19-20.1 Fertilizer and Soil Conditioner Law

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CHAPTER 19-20.1FERTILIZER AND SOIL CONDITIONER LAW19-20.1-01. Enforcing official. This chapter must be administered by the agriculturecommissioner, hereinafter referred to as the commissioner.19-20.1-02. Definitions of words and terms. When used in this chapter:1."Brand" means a term, design, or trademark used in connection with one or several grades of fertilizer, soil amendments, or plant amendments.2."Bulk" means in a nonpackaged form.3."Compost" means a material derived primarily or entirely from biological decomposition of vegetative organic matter or animal manure that does not have inorganic fertilizer added other than to promote decomposition.4."Deficiency" means that amount of plant nutrient or active ingredient found by analysis is less than the amount guaranteed resulting from a lack of nutrient or active ingredients or from lack of uniformity.5."Distributor" means any person who imports, consigns, manufactures, produces, compounds, mixes, or blends fertilizer, soil amendments, or plant amendments, or who sells or offers for sale fertilizer, soil amendments, or plant amendments in this state.6."End user" means a person who uses a fertilizer, soil amendment, or plant amendment in a manner for which the product was intended.7."Fertilizer" means any substance containing one or more recognized plant nutrients which is used for its plant nutrient content and which is designed for use or claimed to have value in promoting plant growth, except unmanipulated animal and vegetable manures, marl, lime, limestone, wood ashes, and other products excluded by the commissioner by rule.8."Fertilizer material" means a fertilizer which:a.Contains no more than one of the primary plant nutrients;b.Has approximately eighty-five percent of its primary plant nutrient content present in the form of a single chemical compound; orc.Is derived from a plant or animal residue or byproduct or a natural material deposit which has been processed in such a way that its content of primary plant nutrients has not been materially changed except by purification or concentration.9."Foliar fertilizer" means a fertilizer designed and ordinarily applied directly to growing plant foliage to stimulate further growth.10."Grade" means the percentages of total nitrogen, available phosphate, and soluble potassium or soluble potash stated in the same terms, order, and percentages as in the "guaranteed analysis". "Guaranteed analysis" means the minimum percentage of plant nutrients claimed.11."Inert" means any ingredient not active.Page No. 112."Investigational allowance" means an allowance for variations inherent in the taking, preparation, and analysis of an official sample of fertilizer, soil amendment, or plant amendment.13."Label" means all written, printed, or graphic matter upon or accompanying any fertilizer, soil amendment, or plant amendment and any printed material or media announcements used in promoting the sale thereof.14."Licensee" means any person licensed by the commissioner to distribute a fertilizer, soil amendment, or plant amendment.15."Manipulated" means fertilizers, soil amendments, or plant amendments that are manufactured, blended, or mixed, or animal or vegetable manures that have been treated in any manner, including mechanical drying, grinding, pelleting, and other means, or by adding other chemicals or substances.16."Micronutrient" means a fertilizer that contains only essential chemical elements that are required at low levels for normal plant growth.17."Mobile mechanical unit" means any portable machine or apparatus used to blend, mix, or manufacture fertilizers, soil amendments, or plant amendments.18."Official sample" means any sample of fertilizer, soil amendment, or plant amendment, taken by the commissioner and designated as "official" by the commissioner.19."Organic" in reference to fertilizer nutrients refers only to naturally occurring substances generally recognized as the hydrogen compounds of carbon and their derivatives or synthetic products of similar composition with a water insoluble nitrogen content of at least sixty percent of the guaranteed total nitrogen.20."Percent" or "percentage" means the percentage by weight.21."Plant amendment" means a substance applied to plants or seeds which is intended to improve germination, growth, yield, product quality, reproduction, flavor, or other desirable characteristics of plants except fertilizers, unless the fertilizer is represented to contain, as an active ingredient, a substance other than a primary plant nutrient or micronutrient, or is represented as promoting plant growth by supplying something other than a primary plant nutrient or micronutrient.22."Plant nutrient" means a nutrient generally recognized as beneficial for plant growth, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, sodium, and zinc.23."Primary plant nutrients" means nitrogen, phosphate, and potash.24."Registrant" means the person who registers fertilizers, soil amendments, or plant amendments under the provisions of this chapter.25."Sell" when applied to fertilizers, soil amendments, or plant amendments includes:a.The act of selling or transferring ownership.b.The offering and exposing for sale, exchange, or distribution.c.Giving away.d.Receiving, accepting, holding, or possessing for sale, exchange, or distribution.Page No. 226."Small package fertilizer" means fertilizer sold exclusively in packages of twenty-five pounds [11.34 kilograms] or less.27."Soil amendment" means any substance which is intended to improve the characteristics of the soil except fertilizers, unmanipulated animal manures, unmanipulated vegetable manures, and pesticides. The term includes fertilizer if the fertilizer is represented to contain, as an active ingredient, a substance other than a primary plant nutrient or micronutrient or is represented as promoting plant growth by supplying something other than a primary plant nutrient or micronutrient.28."Specialty fertilizer" means a fertilizer distributed primarily for nonfarm use.29."Ton" means a net weight of two thousand pounds avoirdupois [907.18 kilograms].19-20.1-03. Registration. Each brand and grade of fertilizer, material, foliar fertilizer,micronutrient, specialty fertilizer, soil amendment, or plant amendment must be registered in the name of the person whose name appears upon the label before being offered for sale or distributed in this state. The application for registration must be submitted to the commissioner on a form furnished by the commissioner and must be accompanied by a fee of fifty dollars. Upon approval by the commissioner, a certificate of registration must be furnished to the applicant. Registrations cover a two-year period beginning July first and ending June thirtieth of every even-numbered year. Distribution of fertilizer products without prior registration or renewal received after July thirty-first must be assessed a penalty of twenty-five dollars per product. A distributor is not required to register any brand of fertilizer, soil amendment, or plant amendment that is already registered under this chapter by another person, providing the label complies with the issued registration. Compost that is transferred between parties without compensation is exempt from these requirements.19-20.1-03.1. License required - Penalty. A person may not distribute any fertilizer, soilamendment, or plant amendment in this state without first obtaining a distributor's license from the commissioner. However, a distributor's license is not required for those distributors selling only specialty fertilizers. A license must be obtained for each location or mobile mechanical unit used by a distributor in the state. The application for the license must be submitted on a form furnished by the commissioner and must be accompanied by a fee of one hundred dollars. A license covers a two-year period beginning July first and ending June thirtieth of every even-numbered year.License renewal applications received after July thirty-first may beassessed a penalty fee of twenty dollars. Licenses are not transferable, and each license must be conspicuously posted at each location and must accompany each mobile mechanical unit operating in the state.19-20.1-03.2. Proof of effectiveness. The commissioner may require proof of claimsmade for any product covered by this chapter and may require proof of value when used as directed or recommended. The commissioner must rely on data from scientifically designed and reported studies conducted under conditions similar to those in this state under which the product is intended to be used.The commissioner may accept or reject other sources of proof asadditional evidence.19-20.1-03.3. Protected information. In submitting data required by this chapter, theapplicant may clearly mark any portions that in the applicant's opinion are trade secrets or commercial or financial information and submit the marked material separately from other material.After consideration of the applicant's request, the commissioner may decide not to allowthe information to become public that the commissioner determines to contain or relate to trade secrets or to commercial or financial information obtained from an applicant.If necessary,information relating to formulas of products may be revealed to a state or federal agency consulted with similar protection of trade secret authority and may be revealed at a public hearing or in findings of facts issued by the commissioner. If the commissioner proposes to release information that the applicant or registrant believes to be protected from disclosure, thePage No. 3commissioner shall notify the applicant or registrant by certified mail. The commissioner may not make the information available for inspection until thirty days after receipt of the notice by the applicant or registrant. During this period, the applicant or registrant may begin an action in an appropriate court for a declaratory judgment as to whether the information is subject to protection under this section.19-20.1-03.4. Guaranteed analysis. Until the commissioner prescribes the alternativeform of guaranteed analysis in accordance with the provisions of this section, guaranteed analysis must be claimed in the following order and form:1.Total Nitrogen (N) _____ percentAvailable Phosphate (P2O5) _____ percentSoluble Potash (K2O) _____ percent2.For unacidulated mineral phosphatic materials and basic slag, bone, tankage, and other organic phosphatic materials, the total phosphate or degree of fineness, or both, may also be guaranteed.3.Guarantees for plant nutrients other than nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium may be permitted or required by rules adopted by the commissioner. The guarantees for any other nutrients must be expressed in the form of the element. The sources of other nutrients, including oxides, salt, and chelates, may be required to be stated on the application for registration and may be included as a parenthetical statement on the label. Other beneficial substances or compounds, determinable by laboratory methods, also may be guaranteed by permission of the commissioner and with the advice of the director of the agricultural experiment station.When any plantnutrients or other substances or compounds are guaranteed, they are subject to inspection and analysis in accord with the methods and rules prescribed by the commissioner.4.The commissioner may, by rule, require potential basicity or acidity expressed in terms of calcium carbonate equivalent in multiples of one hundred pounds [45.36 kilograms] per ton [907.18 kilograms].5.The guaranteed analysis of a soil amendment or plant amendment must be an accurate statement of composition, including the percentages of each ingredient. If the product is a microbiological product, the number of viable micro-organisms per milliliter for a liquid or the number of viable micro-organisms per gram for a dry product must also be listed.19-20.1-04. Labeling.1.Any fertilizer, soil amendment, or plant amendment distributed in this state in containers must have placed on or affixed to the container a label setting forth in clearly legible and conspicuous form the information required by the commissioner.2.If distributed in bulk, a written or printed statement showing the net weight, brand and grade, guaranteed analysis, name and address of the distributor, and the sources from which the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are derived must accompany delivery and be supplied to the purchaser at time of delivery.3.A fertilizer formulated according to specifications that are furnished by a consumer prior to mixing must be labeled to show the net weight, guaranteed analysis or number of pounds [kilograms] of each plant nutrient it contains, and the name and address of the distributor.Page No. 44.The commissioner may require the labels of specialty fertilizer sold in packages of fifty pounds [22.68 kilograms] or more, or sold in bulk, to contain the prominent statement "Not intended for farm use".19-20.1-05. Labeling soil conditioners. Repealed by S.L. 1977, ch. 198, </DIV></DIV></DIV> </DIV>  <DIV></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV></DIV>  <DIV id=footer> <DIV class=container> Copyright © 2012-2022 Laws9.Com All rights reserved.  <A href="/contactus.html">Contact Us</A> | <A href="/aboutus.html">About Us</A> | <A href="/terms.html">Terms</A> | <A href="/privacy.html">Privacy</A> </DIV> </DIV> </BODY></HTML>

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19-20.1 Fertilizer and Soil Conditioner Law